Nobu San Diego: No Bang for our buck!

We headed downtown to eat at Nobu San Diego on Monday night. All three of us opted to try the Omakase, the multi-course chef's tasting menu. We were really excited to try the omakase at Nobu since we had tried and really enjoyed the omakase at Makoto in Washington DC. Needless to say, the omakase at Nobu was not worth the money. Even though the restaurant was fairly empty (it was a Monday night) they seemed to rush us; we were also the only three people sitting at the sushi bar! All of the courses were decent, but overall nothing special like you would assume for the price! The first few courses were the best part of the dinner.

Course 1: Lobster Ceviche with Avocado

This was our first course and a great way to start out the meal. Definitely one of my favorites, even if it was only a bite!

Course 2: Fatty Tuna Sashimi in a ponzu/soy broth with a Japanese peach

This, while only a bite, was also very good. I wish there had been a little more....Even though it is a tasting menu! The tuna was topped with caviar.

Course 3: 3 piece sashimi platter with traditional Japanese broth

This was one of the other good courses featuring a traditional Japanese broth which was very flowery and three sashimi dishes: red snapper, fluke, and hamachi.

Jaime's favorite was the hamachi which was served with serano chilies:

Reed and I preferred the fluke:

Course 4: Hamachi and Salmon Sushi

The presentation on this dish was nice. There were two pieces of hamachi sushi (yellow tail) and one piece of salmon which was wrapped around rape (broccoli rabe). The salmon was excellent and one of the highlights in my opinion. For garnish there was an anchovy crisp and a traditional Japanese herb (can't remember the name).

Course 5: Lobster with Asparagus and Mushrooms

This was our first "warm dish." It was ok. Not my favorite. There definitely was a decent amount of lobster meat; it was however a little difficult to eat with chop sticks! Reed really liked the mushrooms but we all agreed that the sauce was kind of heavy and really dominated the dish.

Course 6: Seared Kobe Beef with Asparagus, Mushrooms, and Yuzu

Another ok, but not great dish. I think we all enjoyed this dish more than the lobster but it was disappointing to see the same asparagus and mushrooms that we had in the previous dish. We were looking for some originality and diversity that seemed to be missing in these dishes. Reed felt that the citrus aspect of the yuzu was a little too much in the dish.

Course 7: Miso Soup with a submerged clam

The miso soup was good and a pleasant break from the two previous courses which were quite heavy, but nothing really spectacular.

Course 8: Sushi

We probably had about 6 pieces each of sushi (some we were told to eat with soy sauce and others without). I can't remember all the pieces we had but we had a tuna, a few different white fish sashimi, Uni (or sea urchin which I thought was interesting...but Jaime and Reed loved!) and Unagi (or eel...aka EEK!). I enjoyed the majority of it (Reed's favorite was the white fish pictured below), but somehow I could not get past the "swimming snake" image and enjoy the eel.

Course 9: Fruity Granita with Orange

Course 10: Dessert

I somehow managed to forget to take a picture of our last course which was a cake with chocolate and cherries along with a frozen cherry slush. Not bad.

With our meals, Jaime and Reed enjoyed a bottle of Nobu Sake and I had a bottle of Nobu Beer.

Nobu San Diego
207 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
619.814.4124

Our First Taste of Puglia: Trani and Ostuni

*** A series of posts about our travels through Southern Italy****

January 3, 2008

Puglia was probably the place that I was most excited about visiting...I was not disapointed. My only regret is that we did not have enough time there...we'll just have to go back! The writer, Carlo Levi, who was exiled in Puglia referred to the region as "that other world...which no-one may enter without a magic key." It is a very special place that should not be missed and we look forward to exploring it more in the future. If you are planning a trip to Italy in the near future, check out Puglia! If you want suggestions, contact us!

We got up bright and early on Thursday morning to go into Sorrento to pick up our rental car from Avis (FYI: stay away from Avis in Sorrento!! We are currently battling them over incorrect charges on our credit card!). Within an hour we were on our way, heading east towards Puglia, Italy's heel! One of the reasons why I was really interested in visiting Puglia, is that it seems to be gaining popularity; in the past year almost all of the main newspapers, including the New York Times, has featured Puglia in at least one article. With beautiful landscapes and charming cities, Puglia has it all. It doesn't hurt that Puglia is a wine and food lovers paradise and we definitely ate well here, having our best meal in all of Italy in Ostuni!

Within 3.5 hours we had left Campania and were in Puglia, the drive was quite beautiful: rolling hills (that look similar to Tuscany) some of them with huge windmills covering them. It was amazing to see the colors, especially the greens! We also learned Ollie hates windmills as much as hot air balloons!





Trani was our first stop....


Trani is known as the "Pearl of Puglia" and has a magnificent portside cathedral. During the Middle Ages, Trani rivaled Bari, another city in Puglia, for importance, and Trani became a major point of embarkement for merchants going to the Near East. The town's business interests grew so much that Trani devised the first maritime code, the Ordinamenta Maris, in 1063 to help regulate their business interests.

Trani port

We were hoping to make it to Ostuni before dark so we stopped in Trani only long enough to snap some pics of the cathedral (a great example of the Norman style of Architecture), and to have a quick lunch of cavatelli con fagioli e cozze (pasta with beans and mussles) at a portside restaurant.

Cats in Trani

The port and Adriatic

The cathedral

It really was interesting to see this cathedral, which is completely different than any other in Italy that we have seen. The ocean makes a beautiful backdrop!




It was just starting to get dark as we approached the city of Ostuni. Ostuni is known as the "White City" and is perched on three hills surrounded by olive groves. The view on the approach is absolutely stunning and I'm sure much more beautiful when it is not as cloudy. We were staying for two nights in an apartment right near Piazza della Liberta. Although the lodgings were merely adequate, we both fell in love with Ostuni and hope we have the opportunity to return some day!



We spent some time wandering around the maze like streets up the cathedral.

The duomo

During the day from the cathedral there are views of the olive groves at the blue adriatic.

Piazza del Duomo

The owner of the apartment we were renting, Francesco, also owns his own restaurant. He told us to stop by for dinner and I am so glad we did; it was the best meal we had in all of Italy! Locanda dei Sette Peccati (Seven Sins) is fantastic. For a starter we split a mixed antipasto platter that was superb. We did not know what half the things were, mainly vegetables, but there was not one bad thing. We ordered two pasta dishes to share, both specialties of Puglia: orecchiette ortolane (with mixed vegetables) and orecchiette pomodoro cacio ricotta (with tomato and cacio ricotta cheese). Cacio Ricotta tastes nothing like ricotta that we know in the U.S. It is firm and is most comparable to feta. Francesco is the host, waiter, and cook for the entire restaurant!

Our antipasto (we were too hungry to take pictures of our pasta!)

We went to bed tired and full and excited about exploring more of Puglia!

Goodnight Mr. O!

Tomorrow: We head out to visit the trulli in Alberobello and Martina Franca, a baroque city that makes a special kind of meat!

Locanda dei Sette Peccati
Via F.sco Campana 3
0831 339595
72017 Ostuni (BR)

Naples, In the Shadow of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Pizza

****A series of Posts about our travels through Southern Italy*****

January 1, 2008-January 2, 2008

We arrived in Napoli on New Year's Day after seven hours of traveling on trains only to find out that the circumvesuviana train (the metro system in Naples) was not running. Just our luck!! Our hotel, Casa Mazzola (which our friend's Lawren and Steve from Verona had recommended), was in Sant'Agnello, a hill top town near Sorrento and 50 km from Naples. We had many bags and Ollie, so taking a bus was out of the question! We ended up taking a taxi for 150 Euros that took nearly 2 hours! We were so glad that we had agreed upon a price before the taxi driver saw how much traffic there really was (heading back towards Napoli)! Our taxi driver was really friendly, albeit sexist, and many times wanted to pull off the highway so we could take pictures of Vesuvius or the coast. He was so proud of Naples, which was really nice. As we came to find out, our taxi driver was only interested in what Reed had to say and could care less what I had to say! At one point he asked when Reed's birthday was and also when Oliver's birthday was (he knew Ollie was a boy), commenting on both of their astrological signs (something that a lot of Italian seem to be interested in) but never once asking about my birthday! Just an observation.....

We were a little worried when we arrived at Casa Mazzola because it was definitely not near the Circumvesuviana train line, like the owner had said. Instead it was about 2 miles up a winding road. (A Note: Casa Mazzola is def. budget friendly at 50 Euros a night, however without a car it can be difficult. There is one bus with infrequent service down to the Circumvesuviana. In addition, without a car it is necessary to get a ride from the owner to get to any restaurant.)

We were not quite sure that anything would be open for dinner or even sure how we would get to a place if it was open. The owner, Luigi, found a restaurant that was open, La Rosa. This place was great and cheap. We were the only people in the restaurant and we shared an order of gnocchi alla sorrentina (with bufala mozzarella) and both had a margherita pizza (Reed's had sausage and onions). After a long day it was time for bed!

Wednesday, January 2, we woke up early to head to Pompeii. The views from out B&B out towards Naples and the Gulf of Naples were spectacular.

Mt. Vesuvius and the sunrise

Gulf of Naples

Vesuvius and vineyards

The circumvesuviana train was running and in 30 minutes we had arrived at Pompeii. We planned on spending a few hours at Pompeii touring the main sites (The Basilica, Casa del Poeta Tragico, Lupanare (brothel), and the Terme Stabiane (thermal baths)) before heading to Naples for lunch.

Mt. Vesuvius behind Pompeii

Some of the more interesting things we learned from the audio tour was that the basilica was not used for religious purposes; instead it was the center of law and home of the tribunal. It's name, the basilica, was adapted later because of the similarity in appearance to Christian basilica's. The Lupanare was one of 25 brothels in Pompeii. The name, Lupanare, comes from the Roman word "Lupa" which means prostitute. The lupanare had 10 rooms and the price for a prostitute was equivalent to 2 glasses of medium quality wine!

Ruins of the Basilica

We were shocked when we got to Pompeii and saw that dogs were allowed at the ruins. Not limited to the stray dogs that make Pompeii there home, but also a number of tourists had brought their dogs along!

Preserved human

Preserved dog

One of the other interesting things I learned from the audio guide was that Pompeii was pretty much under construction at the time Vesuvius erupted. An earthquake 10 years earlier had pretty much leveled the city and at the time of the eruption construction was under way!

Pompeii street

Orange and Lemon stand outside the gates of Pompeii

The lemons were huge!

The weather was really cold and windy so around 12:30 we decided to head back and catch the circumvesuviana train into Napoli so we could sightsee and have some great pizza! We really wanted to have pizza at Da Michele in Naples, which is supposed to be the oldest pizzeria (having made pizza since 1870!) but the line was crazy and it looked like we might have to wait for a long time and it was already 2. Instead we headed over to Trianon, which is right across the street and we only had to wait 30 minutes.


Ttrianon has been tossing pizza dough since 1923 and the walls are covered with black and white photos of old Naples. We both had the margherita pizza con bufala but were kind of disappointed that the pizza was not as good as it had been the night before!

Waiting for Pizza!

The menu

The pizza!

After lunch we wandered around Spaccanapoli, the ancient heart of Naples. Spaccanapoli is really interesting, having a number of alimentari (food shops) and restaurants nestled in narrow winding streets.

It even has a doll hospital!


Naples has a lot of charm and a lot of potential. Of course we took all the precautions with our money etc., but we never felt threatened or unsafe. The buildings were beautiful and if you take time, Naples is a city worth visiting and exploring.






As we were walking around we came across a lemon store which sold lemon liquors and other lemon products including lemon pasta! The very nice man inside, invited us inside to see his production of limoncello and gave us a taste! We also found an alimentaria/salumeria located at Piazza Luigi Miraglia (in the heart of Spaccanapoli) that has been opened since 1895! We bought some bread, olives, Mozzarella di Bufala, and salumi for dinner. The store owner told us that in order to have the best mozzarella we needed to soak it for 20 minutes in warm water. We later found out that this is done in the winter because the cold temperatures change the texture of the cheese.

Lemon rinds used to prepare Limoncello

Before heading out we stopped by the cathedral, which is fairly plain on the outside but very ornate on the inside.

Exterior Facade

Interior Facade

The 17th century baroque Capella di San Gennaro is one of the highlights of the interior. Inside the chapel you can see the skull and a few phials of the saint's congealed blood, St. Gennaro, the city's patron saint. St. Gennaro was maryred in 305 AD and legend has it that his blood liquified within the phials when his body was returned to Naples. On the 1st Sunday in May, September 19, and December 16 thousands of people gather in the cathedral for the Festa di San Gennaro to witness the saint's blood liquify: a miracle believed to save the city from potential disasters.

Capella di San Gennaro

Ceiling in the Capella di San Gennaro

We finished off the day by eating some of the great food we had bought in the city!

Soaking the Mozzarella di Bufala in our bathroom sink...

Preparing dinner

Wine, bread, cheese, olives, and salumi all from Napoli!

Tomorrow: We head out of Campania and visit a majestic seaside cathedral in Trani and then off to Ostuni, Puglia's white city where Opera music is played in the streets!

Ristrorante La Rosa
Via Nastro Azzurro, 28
80063 Piano Di Sorrento (NA), Italy
+39 081 8083556